Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Wedding

A Simple Brighton Wedding: Holly & Patrick

Kat

October 4, 2011

Holly & Patrick were married in Brighton. They didn't really stick to a particular theme for their wedding, they simply included things they love. They wanted to keep the day simple and stress-free, as the bride explains, "We didn't have a theme, and we didn't say anything had to be a certain way. My dress was handmade on me, through chatting, drawings and ideas, by my friend Aimee who trained at London College of Fashion. Patrick chose his suit because he was definite that he wanted a 'mod' suit. It was all done very organically, and it was perfect. Somebody suggested I wear a long sleeve, high necked dress to cover my tattoo but I declined the suggestion and went for as low a back as possible."
Read more...

A DIY Village Fete Wedding: Charlie & Jo

Kat

October 3, 2011

"Our inspiration came from our wish to have a wedding that was different to any we had been to and our main focus for the day was to try and make it as fun as possible for all the guests," newlywed Jo wrote. "We wanted to have an informal day that just felt like a party. We both like antique decorations and I have always wanted a vintage dress because I wanted something different and not something that you might see someone else wearing at another wedding. I also loved the idea of my dress having a history and making someone else day special before mine. In the same way as I love the fact that the diamond in my engagement ring belonged to Charlie’s Great-Grandmother."
Read more...

Glamour, Sophistication & The Beatles: Lauren & Ben

Kat

October 3, 2011

The Beatles brought Lauren & Ben together, so it was fitting that they wanted their favourite band to influence their big day. Ben is from Liverpool and plays in a Beatles cover band as George Harrison and while working on reception at the Soho Grand Hotel in New York in March 2010 Lauren met the band when they played a gig there. However the couple did not want their wedding to be too obviously Beatles themed, so instead they simply added a few subtle touches to the day. Lauren explains, "Our inspiration for the wedding was glamour and sophistication, with a whimsical, retro, playful twist. We had a live string trio play during our ceremony -with a solo of "Come What May" - the love theme from Moulin Rouge {which also tied in the glamour/whimsy/love theme of the day}. The strings {violin and viola} added a sophisticated, lovely, untraditional, more dreamy atmosphere to the ceremony {especially walking down the aisle to them!}"
Read more...

48 Couples Marry at Bestival in the Big Love Inflatable Church

Kat

September 28, 2011

Taking place on the Isle of Wight for the past 7 years, Bestival music festival has fast become sinimomous with crazy antics, fancy dress...oh and a big dollop of awesome music thrown in for good measure! Each year it also plays host to the Big Love Inflatable Church, where couples can go to tie the knot. This year wedding photographer Chris Cowley was there to catch all the action! He explains, "A grand total of 48 weddings took place over the 3 day festival, Reverend’s ‘Nickerless’ and ‘Randy Johnson’ preformed ceremonies with the help of dishevelled bridesmaids, a mother in-law and a maid of dishonour."
Read more...

A Surprise Superhero Themed Wedding: David & Jo

Kat

September 27, 2011

David & Jo had a superhero themed surprise wedding. What else can I really say but...awesome! "Our inspiration was that we are both hugely devious and we wanted to have a really good laugh," Jo wrote. "We decided early on to invite everyone to my 40th birthday party and the theme would be Superheroes…we just failed to tell them all that it would actually be a wedding reception and we would be the Super-Dupers and will have duped them all. We've been together just shy of 20 years and really nobody ever thought we'd take the leap. For some, it's still quite a shock!"
Read more...

A Quintessentially English Country Garden Wedding: Liz & Blake

Kat

September 26, 2011

Liz moved to America from the UK where she met Blake while he was singing in a bar. After dating for a while he proposed while on holiday in Rome. Although well-traveled, Liz wanted to have her wedding in her hometown of Brize Norton, in her parent's back garden. She had to rely on her parents, sister and bridesmaids a lot for help during the planning, "I arrived in the UK 3 days before the wedding and immediately had to go and meet our vicar, after that we had to fight the jet lag to start decorating the marquee," Liz told me. "I didn’t realise how much stuff I had collected over the year and when I saw it all piled up in my parent's dining room I felt really overwhelmed by it all. Luckily my sister and bridesmaid were on hand to keep everything on track we knuckled down and started hanging and arranging."
Read more...

A South African Winter Wedding at A Private Game Reserve: Jaimi & Adrian

Kat

September 23, 2011

Jaimi & Adrian are wedding photographers themselves so when it came to planning their own big day the photography was obviously a very important part for them. "Adrian and I met through a photographic project he did back in 2008 and we fell in love," Jaimi told me. "He asked me to marry him on a misty morning in October 2009 in the Drakensburg Kzn. We got married on January 10th, 2010 and had a small ceremony at Tala. We renewed our love for each other and had our wedding celebration on June the 24th this year at our special love place ... Tala Private Game Reserve." "As Adrian has been in the wedding industry for over 12 years now as a wedding photographer. We really wanted our day to be 'us' and a bit more rocker than the weddings we shoot every weekend of the year. We took all the 'stuff' we loved and piled it onto one day - from the clothes we love, to the passion we have to the fun we wanted for our family. It turned out awesome, it was personal, full of love, non stressful and just super rocking."
Read more...

A Day of the Dead Art Gallery Wedding: Angie & Adam

Kat

September 23, 2011

Angie & Adam were married at Manchester Art Gallery, a fitting venue as the bride went to Manchester Metropolitan University to study art where she met her future husband. Angie wore a bespoke purple dress made for her by a friend who works in a theatre wardrobe department (currently with We Will Rock You!) They designed it together so Angie got just what she wanted. The couple chose not to have bridesmaids or groomsmen. They entered their ceremony together. "We wanted to start as we mean to go on - together," they explained. "We walked down the aisle holding hands and remained holding hands through the service. Also Angie's a bit of a feminist and didn't want to be given away."
Read more...

A Darkly Dramatic Gothic Wedding: Alix & Zach

Kat

September 22, 2011

Some of you may remember Alix & Zach from their gothic tea party engagement shoot. Well I'm thrilled to be able to share their wedding with you today - and guess what, the smoke came with them! After getting ready at The Rookery Hotel (somewhere which I've actually stayed - its a beautiful hotel!) the couple were married at Lauderdale House in Highgate. The reception was held at somewhere that's fast becoming one of my favourite London venues, The Metal Works in Islington.
Read more...

An Effortlessly Elegant Backyard Wedding: Rebecca & Ben

Kat

September 22, 2011

After a beautifully simple Brooklyn engagement shoot, I would have expected nothing less of Rebecca & Ben than the effortlessly elegant backyard wedding that they had. Married in Ben's parents Rhode Island back garden, the wedding was a DIY affair. "I made bouquets with my friends from flowers that grew down the street at Young's family farm," Rebecca told me. "I made the flower garlands that hung up around the pink boxer bar. I made all the napkins from Amy Butler fabric. I collected vases and jars at garage sales and streetwise junkyard shops near brooksville Maine."
Read more...

A Wedding in the Woods & A Bride Wearing Antlers: Ian & Jo

Kat

September 21, 2011

OK so it isn't much surprise that I pretty much died when I first saw Ian & Jo's wedding. The woods! The campfire! The bride wearing freakin' antlers! Oh my lord I'm so thrilled to be blogging this baby. "Our wedding was had a subtle vintage 1920's summer fete theme," Jo wrote, "We love art, creativity and community. The things that make us human. The wedding was never about me & Ian exclusively, marriage to us means the joining of many, a coming together. It was our opportunity to share our love for each other, and extend it to our loved ones. That day was for all of us. I think that vibe came across."
Read more...

A Humanist, DIY Wedding in London: Emi & Adam

Kat

September 21, 2011

I'm officially dying over this wedding. Overly dramatic maybe but oh Lordy how beautiful is everything? Emi sure has that ethereal look down. Her Baby Ceylon gown (found on eBay) and vintage veil combo is just perfect...and don't even get me started on her short evening dress by Jones + Jones and Jeffrey Campbell American Flag boots. Seriously... The DIY wedding was held at Blo Norton Hall in London (its hard to believe this place is in the city!) The humanist ceremony took place 5 years to they day that the couple met. After the touching ceremony, the speeches were held outside in the beautiful grounds. The informal wedding breakfast was also held outside.
Read more...

A Vintage Themed South African Wedding ‘With a Twist’: Zigi & Warren

Kat

September 19, 2011

Oh South Africa you do have some beautiful light...and how lucky are Zigi & Warren to have had Shanna Jones Photography to capture it so magically? "We wanted a different wedding that represented our style," Zigi told me. "Something that was unique to us as a couple. Warren is into Cars/Bikes & Fashion. I am into Food/Art/design…and unfortunately cars too. We decided to do a Road trip to our destination (this is something we do often & is actually part of our lives). The plan was to do it over 4 days & 3 nights to ensure we really don’t miss anything, but also get the time to spend with the various groups of people. The plan was that the entire group would get to know each other by being in the same town for 3 nights. This would mean on the wedding night we can just hang!! Quite a few of our friends are muscle car collectors – so about 10 cars drove up (where others brought their off-road bikes to go into the mountains)."
Read more...

A Backyard Handfasting & Rock Festival Wedding: Becca & Gary

Kat

September 19, 2011

Bex & Gary’s wedding looks like it was a lot of fun, dispite the rain! The first part of the day was a handfasting ceremony and morning reception in the bride’s Gran’s back garden. Afterwards the couple went to the registry office for the ‘legal bit’ and the day was rounded off by them going to Nozstock Festival and staying in their very own honeymoon suite – a tipi! "We knew straight away that we didn't want a traditional wedding and we both loved the idea of running away together to get married in secret but at the same time we wanted all our friends there too," the bride told me."We'd both been to weddings that felt impersonal and where we'd both felt nervous and out of place so our mission was to try and make the day as chilled out and as comfortable for everyone as possible. Gary came up with idea of going to a festival instead of a wedding reception and it all sort of fell into place."
Read more...

A Heavy Metal, Karaoke Party: Julia & Steve

Kat

September 16, 2011

Julia & Steve found their photographer Hannah Millard after seeing a feature on her on Rock n Roll Bride. It's always so extra special to me to share weddings that my blog has 'helped' in some way and I'm really excited that this gorgeous couple were able to get such great wedding photographs because of Rock n Roll Bride. Happy face! Hannah clearly agrees. "Woahhh," she writes. "This wedding was just... wow. I mean. Just... OK, I'm having trouble putting it into words, it was just pure Rock n Roll. Julia & Steve are an awesome couple and they definitely know how to party. There was vodka and tattoo artists and rock band karaoke and Julia's brother DOVE INTO A CAKE. It was amazing."
Read more...